Spring Chicken!

So, I haven't had much time to cook this week. I just finished a major Spring Cleaning and have been too exhausted to do anything but rest my aching bones. And, I'll admit I'm a bit reluctant to make a mess.

But, it is almost Easter, and seeing that chicksand Easter Eggs abound, it only makes sense to focus on chicken this week.

(Thanks Chris, for the pic of Peeps® on a stick.)

So, I rallied and made some Velvet Chicken -- and I used the moist, lovely meat in a Chicken Tikka and Chicken Pot Pie this week, both of which were amazing. Which got me thinking that there's a lot you can do with chicken, if you have it handy.

Here are some quick ideas. (Pick up a rotisserie chicken on your way home, open some canned chicken breast, toss a couple unfrozen breasts in a Zip N' Steam bag, or take a thawed roaster and make Velvet Chicken and go from there.)

Chicken Tacos: Season shredded chicken with garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, a pinch of cinnamon and a few tablespoons of water, and heat through. Fill flour tortillas, top with shredded pepper jack cheese, sour cream and salsa, cilantro if you have it.

Chicken Chili: Make your usual famous chili, but use shredded chicken instead of ground beef.

Harried Housewife Chicken Pot Pie: (Not as good as the homemade version, but close.) Take a bag of frozen veggies, mix with shredded chicken, a jar of chicken gravy and some parsley and thyme, heat through in a large pot, then fill pie shell, top with pie dough, crescent roll dough, or biscuit dough and back until golden brown and bubbly. (I am not a huge fan of gravy in a jar, but desperate times call for desperate measures. However, you can make your own "white gravy" quickly by melting butter, then stirring in equal parts flour, cooking until you have a light brown roux, then stir in cup or two of chicken stock and some heavy cream and simmer until thick. Add salt/pepper to taste.)

Gourmess Archives

My Motto

About Me

I'm a petite but powerful marketing maven who should have gone to culinary school. Or moved to France. When I'm not at my day job in NYC, I spend most of my time in the kitchen coming up with creative cookery ideas. There is usually a mess involved. (Hence the GourMESS title.)

Cookery Experience

For six months in 2010, I taught myself the French Culinary Institute's official textbook, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine, and prepared (and blogged about) every demonstration in the course.

On Making a Mess of Things

“I would far prefer to have things happen as they naturally do, such as the mousse refusing to leave the mold, the potatoes sticking to the skillet, the apple charlotte slowly collapsing. One of the secrets of cooking is to learn to correct something if you can, and bear with it if you cannot.” ― Julia Child